Note:Sometimes
the place names do not display on the flight. The problem is intermittent and I have not
yet solved it. If you push the pause button, the place-name labels will then display.

How lovely is your dwelling
place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart
and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the
swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young -- a place near your altar, O
LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

Google Earth is not well-suited to
following a path in such a small area as the Old City of Jerusalem, so this tour is a bit
different. I've combined the site visits from days 8 and 9 into this single tour and added
in a number of sidetrips to take advantage of our hoppping about. It begins with several
passes over the Old City to see where we went and to understand it in relation to its
surroundings. We then take a sidetrip to the eastern face of the Mount of Olives to view
Anathoth, Jeremiah's hometown, and the village of Bethany, home to Lazarus, Mary and
Martha. From there, another sidetrip takes us north along the Mount of Olives-Mt. Scopus
ridge into the territory of Benjamin to see Gibeah of Saul, Ramah (of Samuel), Gibeon and
Nebi Samwil, the traditional burial site of the prophet and judge. At this point, we've
crossed the Benjamin Plateau and are on the western side of the central Judean ridge.
We'll go past the Shrine of the Book, the Jerusalem Model and Yad Vashem. We'll also see
Ein Kerem, the traditional hometown of John the Baptist and Bethar, the site of the Jews'
final defeat by the Romans in A.D. 135 that erased their sovereignty over this land for
over 1,800 years. From there, it's south and east to Bethlehem, past the security wall to
the Church of the Nativity and a sidetrip to the Herodium, Herod the Great's fortress and
final resting place. If you can see the orange-colored highway, you're in the areas
we visited. If you can't, we're taking a sidetrip. Particularly in the Old City area, I
would suggest flying at the slowest speed.